Few go harder than Benny The Butcher. A one-man rap colossus, he built his career with a frenetic work rate, a succession of releases propelling him to hip-hop’s top tier. A hectic 2021 was followed by a sole studio LP in 2022 – ‘Tana Talk 4’ – before news leaked that he had signed for Def Jam. His debut for the iconic label, ‘EVERYBODY CAN’T GO’ dials into his core values, a frenetic display of rap excellence that carries real weight.
A succinct portrait of his muscular, raw formula, the record opens with the moving, profoundly honest ‘Jermanie’s Graduation’. The Hit-Boy produced ‘BRON’ darts out the stereo, bobbing and weaving with real panache. The soulful ‘Everybody Can’t Go’ switches it up, before ‘TMVTL’ arrives amid an atmosphere of menace.
Rolling it back to the old school for ‘Back Again’, Benny The Butcher is joined by Snoop Dogg, who delivers one of his best guest verses in years. Electrifying and totally energised, it’s a real highlight of the record as a whole.
Yet his core values remain intact. ‘Buffalo Kitchen Club’ and ‘Griselda Express’ are both shout outs to his roots, with the all-star Griselda link-up utilising one of their trademark sample flips – not since Wu-Tang in their prime have the 70s funk and soul record crates been so successfully pilfered.
Indeed, the tension between evolution and retaining his identity makes ‘EVERYBODY CAN’T GO’ incredibly riveting. Walking the tightrope between change and acceptance, the record absorbs new ideas in its path. Closing with the Peezy-featured ‘Big Tymers’, it’s an impressive return from Benny The Butcher. Concise in an era of streaming-enabled largesse, his laser-guided focus strips away the fat to reveal the muscle underneath. A bold work of evolution, ‘EVERYBODY CAN’T GO’ utilises some fantastic production – notably from Hit-Boy – to piece together a seamless record, one that hauls his sound forwards into a fresh era.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
—
